Now that David Johnson has a three-year contract extension in his pocket after signing a new deal on Saturday night worth a reported $39 million – $30 million of which is guaranteed – the Cardinals’ running back still has motivation on his mind when the team opens its season on Sunday against the Redskins.

Just a few days ago, Johnson talked about how unfair it feels to him that so many people seem to have forgotten about what he did during the 2016 season. He led the NFL in yards from scrimmage (2,118) and total touchdowns scored (20) that year, and after missing most of last season with a fractured left wrist, it did seem as if he were a forgotten man of sorts.

Take the NFL’s annual Top 100 list, for example. Johnson was listed as the league’s 12th most influential player entering the 2017 season on NFL.com in a national vote by his peers and league personnel. After playing in only one game, he didn’t make the list at all this year.

“I think everyone has a question mark on me,” Johnson said Wednesday. “They don’t know how good I’m going to be.”

The Cardinals obviously know or they wouldn’t have given him a deal on the eve of their season opener against the Redskins that could pay him as much as $45 million, according to reports.

Johnson and his agent, Brian Mackler, did not immediately return messages seeking comment. The Cardinals also did not offer any statements when they announced the deal on Saturday. General Manager Steve Keim, however, said Johnson’s wrist injury wouldn’t be a factor when it came to getting a deal done with the former third-round pick out of Northern Iowa.

“Not at all,” Keim said a day earlier during his new weekly radio segment on Friday morning with Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. “I’m convinced David is the guy we want to keep as a core member of this team.”

Keim had also said during the interview that he had been having continuous dialogue with Johnson’s representatives and had remained hopeful that a new deal would get done. There were reports on Twitter by some national NFL writers that a contract wasn’t likely to happen before the start of the season.

But it did. Johnson is now under contract through the 2021 season.

Johnson has rushed for 1,843 yards and 24 touchdowns to go along with 1,403 yards and eight touchdowns on 122 receptions for the Cardinals.

He was first-team All-Pro in 2016 after leading the NFL and setting a new team single-season record with 2,118 scrimmage yards (1,239 rushing; 879 receiving). He also led the NFL and set a franchise record with 20 touchdowns. Johnson missed nearly all of the 2017 season after suffering a wrist injury in the season opener at Detroit. But he has returned to the team healthy for 2018 and is slated to start Sunday against Washington.